City, bowlers could strike another deal

Corpus Christi among 5 cities to bid for event

Four representatives from the United States Bowling Congress are visiting the city and inspecting its amenities for a possible return in 2011.

Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau officials placed a $1.1 million bid for the large convention, a known revenue-generator. In 2006, the five-month convention brought an estimated $85 million to the area.

Keith Arnold, president and CEO of the visitors bureau, said the reasons for having the bowlers return were self explanatory.

"We had 67,000 bowlers, 238,370 total visitors, $85 million and 2,603 direct jobs over a five-month period," Arnold said. "We couldn't ask for a better convention."

The bureau provided $350,000 of its funds plus an additional $250,000 from private businesses such as hotels and restaurants in the area that benefitted financially from the bowlers' visit last year. The City Council provided $500,000 for the bid.

Jack Mordini, vice president of membership products and services for the U.S. Bowling Congress, said four other cities have bid for the 2011 convention and bowling representatives would visit those locations.

A final presentation will be made to the U.S. Bowling Congress board on Nov. 30 from each of the five cities and a decision will be made in mid-December, Mordini said. Other cities are Wichita, Kan., Tulsa, Okla., Reno, Nev., and Orlando, Fla.

"Our bowlers like to visit vacation destinations such as Corpus Christi," Mordini said. "They compete for six to eight hours and then take advantage of golf, fishing or other activities the community offers."

Mordini said it was important to revisit Corpus Christi to see how organizers would use space at the American Bank Center differently in 2011.

Arnold and other members of the Convention and Visitors Bureau's board are banking on the convention's success in 2006 to bring bowlers back.

That bowling competition brought in $11 million, or almost 15 percent, more than an estimate based on what the U.S. Bowling Congress competition generated in 2005 from Baton Rouge, La. The 2005 tournament in Baton Rouge, La., attracted 130,000 visitors and generated an estimated economic impact of $74 million, organization officials said.

According to an economic study prepared by economist Jim Lee of Texas A&amp;M University-Corpus Christi, the bowlers named the Lexington Museum on the Bay and the Texas State Aquarium as their favorite attractions.